Postmodernism: A Very Short Introduction [Paperback]

Postmodernism is a tricky thing to define. According to Christopher Butler, 'it is certain of its uncertainty', and he intentionally writes 'about postmodern artists, intellectual gurus, academic critics, philosophers, and social scientists...as if they were all members of a loosely constituted and quarrelsome political party.' Butler draws on the work of Derrida, Jameson, Barthes, Althusser and Foucault to provide an intellectual basis for the idea of postmodernism, but does not confine his study to critical and literary theory. The idea of postmodernism is one that has spread into politics and other social sciences, art and the humanities, and even the hard sciences in many ways.

Because postmodernism is more of a method or discourse than a set theory (at least so far as typical Anglo-American concepts of theory would have it), Butler worries that some of postmodernism is lost in translation - owing so much to the French intellectual foundation, and owing much to nuance and subtle readings, the translation of postmodern ideas has been slow to be exactly transferred. This is also in part due to the resistance of English and English-speaking intellectual constructs to permit some of the linguistic aspects of postmodernism in any easy way.

One of the key issues of postmodernism is the idea of grand narratives and metanarratives, and changing the way one uses text, language and symbolic items to interpret the world. This is where deconstruction and reconstruction come into play. Butler addresses these issues in terms of philosophy, history, art and expression, as well as ethical and political theory. He claims that the ideas of postmodernism tend to be more successful in the ethical and political realm, dealing with issues of identity, selfhood, difference and autonomy, all of which tend to be linguistically constructed and supported.

Butler quotes Jameson as seeing the postmodern as 'the disappearance of a sense of history', in culture and in philosophy. The question of Pontius Pilate, 'What is truth?' gets played out again and again in postmodern circles in ways the early Romans and Christians would never have thought. Butler worries for the postmodern condition, stating 'Postmodernists are by and large pessimists.' He says that postmodern thinkers are better at deconstruction than construction/reconstruction, and worries that much of what postmodernism inspires is bleak and dark.

Some reviewers of this text have noted a bias against postmodernism in Butler, which is probably a bit misplaced. Butler is biased against some of the outcomes of postmodernist thinking, and goes a bit further in this Very Short Introduction that perhaps is best in describing what might be the outcome of the logical extreme. Still, this is a very good introduction to the underlying principles of postmodernist thought, with some of the applications in various disciplines of the underlying framework.

I was pleased to find that Prof. Butler discusses "post-modernist" theory critically and with intellectual rigor. I was concerned that this short introduction would be either a hymn to post-modernist theory or an uncritical recitation of post-modernist ideas. Instead, Prof. Butler analyzes and criticizes the sources, substance and implications of various post-modernist methodologies -- deconstruction, Foucaultian analysis, post-colonialism -- as these have been embraced, partially-embraced, and adapted in literature, the visual arts, architecture and popular culture. The reader learns alot about post-modernist theory, but from a critic who is skeptical as well as informed. Would the "episteme" have "replicated" his example.

This book serves as a fairly straightforward introduction to postmodern thinking. Unfortunately, it is overly critical of postmodernism, which may discourage the curious beginner from pursuing the subject further. It might have been more appropriately titled, "Postmodernism: A Very Short Critique". While there is nothing inherently wrong with casting a critical eye on postmodernism, an introduction should be more balanced than this book is. I would recommend "Teach Yourself Postmodernism by Glenn Ward as a better introduction.

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